You shouldn't bet on Cortana, just yet

Last week we brought you the news that Cortana was now offering Premier League football predictions directly to your Windows Phone.

Cortana has previously enjoyed plenty of success with such predictions, leading us to think that Microsoft had somehow tapped into the spirit mind of Paul the Octopus.

Cortana correctly predicted 15 out of 16 World Cup games knockout stages in 2012, so it's as good as a sure thing, right?

We decided to put it to the test, lining up a selection of bets alongside Cortana's predictions because, surely, how could you possibly go wrong with that?

Microsoft announced the arrival of Premier League predictions on Cortana with a blog post, excitedly proclaiming that Liverpool would beat Everton in the Merseyside derby. Cortana had told us "it would take a footballing miracle for Everton to beat Liverpool".

Down south (or daan saaf as you might say), Arsenal was predicted to beat Tottenham in the London derby.

We placed a couple of bets on these results - as well as putting a few quid on West Ham to beat Manchester United. Why? Looking at it now, that perhaps seems unlikely, but then the Hammers have had a great season and could surely win at home.

Arsenal started strong, slotting away an early goal that had us anticipating a strong start for Cortana. Then the defence faltered, with Harry Kane slotting in two for Spurs.

Cortana 0 - William Hill 1

So attention turned to Everton and Liverpool. We were waiting for that footballing miracle, but it wasn't to come. The Merseyside derby ended in a goalless draw. Maybe Cortana was right: there was no miracle, but there was also no victory for Liverpool.

Cortana 0 - William Hill 2

Things were looking really good for West Ham, an early goal in the second half had us on the edges of our seats, holding off Manchester United. We'd even started our victory dance, betting slip in hand, and then Blind scored in injury time.

Cortana 0 - William Hill 3

So Cortana wasn't quite the hot tipster we thought it might be. Somewhat dejected, we have to admit that perhaps we shouldn't have put so much faith in Windows Phone's personal assistant. Or perhaps we should have just bought an octopus.